FORMATION AND PROPERTIES OF COPPER SILICIDE PRECIPITATES IN SILICON

We report results of a detailed study of structural and electrical pro perties of copper silicide precipitates in silicon. Using conventional and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy we observe that metastable platelets surrounded by extrinsic stacking faults form upon quenching from high temperatures. By ripening experiments at low temp eratures as well as by a variation of cooling rates it is shown how ho mogeneous copper precipitation merges into the heterogeneous precipita tion mode of colony growth. The application of recently developed crit eria for the interpretation of deep level transient spectra from exten ded defects allows to conclude that deep electronic states associated with the precipitates have bandlike character.